Criminal

Four Nightingale courts are to be made permanent, as justice ministers continue to grapple with the record-level Crown Court backlog

The Sentencing Act 2026 received royal assent last week, bringing into law the recommendations of David Gauke’s May 2025 Independent Sentencing Review

Victims of crime are to be given free access to transcripts of Crown Court sentencing remarks, the Ministry of Justice (MoJ) has confirmed

An attempt to use Mazur to defend a serial fare-dodger charged with making 112 train journeys without a ticket has failed at Westminster Magistrates’ Court

Non-molestation orders are meant to be the frontline defence against domestic abuse, yet their enforcement often falls short. Writing in NLJ this week, Jeni Kavanagh, Jessica Mortimer and Oliver Kavanagh analyse why the criminalisation of breach has failed to deliver consistent protection

Jeni Kavanagh, Jessica Mortimer & Oliver Kavanagh on why there is a mismatch between the protection promised by non-molestation orders & what is enforced as a breach

Assisted dying remains one of the most fraught fault lines in English law, where compassion and criminal liability sit uncomfortably close. Writing in NLJ this week, Julie Gowland and Barny Croft of Birketts examine how acts motivated by care—booking travel, completing paperwork, or offering emotional support—can still fall within the wide reach of the Suicide Act 1961

Does the law still reflect modern medical reality? Julie Gowland & Barny Croft on navigating the legal risks of assisted dying support

Bar campaigns will focus on protecting juries, legal aid and children’s rights in the year ahead with a working group already looking into the age of criminal responsibility, chair Kirsty Brimelow KC has said

Neil Parpworth crunches the 2024–25 numbers on police use of stop & search powers